No particular topic, just want to say hi

[Seeker of Rock]

Haven't posted here in a month or two. No, it is not because of the HD24. Haven't posted period....bought a swingset for the kids and still working on digging out 6" down so I can put in wood chips around it. A lot of work. This is pretty much the only forum I still read though, this and the MP3 clinic and the Cave. So anyway, I saw that 1" 4 track on ebay. Didn't follow up to see what it went for but the whole concept was so cool.
Well, if I still have your attention, I do have a question. 1/2" two track, or as Ghost explained in a previous post maybe 1/2 track , they are pretty rare it seems. Just curious, because I now have this digital hard disk recorder thing. Unfortunately I haven't done much with it since I 'tested' it before deciding to buy. Anyway, bought the TASCAM CDRW700 a few years back for decent converters to get my analog stuff (488MKII at the time, and of course I still have it ) and then anticipating doing the same when I got Christine, the MSR-16 that just never took a liking to me. Now I will be inputing vocals and guitar through a VC1Qcs which I love, bass probably through the MCQ3, and I think this will probably give pretty good track quality, as the MCQ3 did when I recorded on the 488 and I dig the VC1Q sound even more, though I think the compressors are pretty close-sounding to each other. Anyway, so I wonder if somewhere down the road, before I can afford the 2" dream machine if I ever get that far, if I ought to look into an analog mastering deck. I even thought of this before Christine got temporarily put aside. I know a lot of you guys use 1/4" and maybe that is what I need to do, if I decide to go that route. Just thinking how much more saturation would one hear with twice the tape width on a master deck? A little to average ears, nothing, a big difference. Hmmm. Just out of curiosity, is anyone familiar with the manufacturers (I'm sure the usual suspects) or models of 1/2" mastering decks?
Sorry for the book, it is wine night for Seeker. What babbling I can't do vocally I tend to let my fingers do. Anyway, I read a lot, just don't post that much as of late, but it looks like everyone is doing well still.

 

[Dr ZEE]

I know a lot of you guys use 1/4" ...

whatcha'mean "lot of you" ? Name one here who mixes down to tape and does not use 1/4"..., but does use 1" as 'master deck'? Who is it? speak out

...maybe that is what I need to do, if I decide to go that route. ?

that's Yes.

Just thinking how much more saturation would one hear with twice the tape width on a master deck?

...or do you mean "how much less"????

.....
or, and, btw, : HI!

 

[The Ghost of FM]

Howdy Seeker!

Nice to see you back and posting here and there.

1/2 track stereo, 1/2" mastering decks?

The usual suspects is right. Sony, MCI, Studer, Ampex all used to make them and they all fell into the category format of Super Analog...basically surpassing NAB standards for speed and track width.

If you're gonna get into that format, you better have a damn fine monitoring environment to work in and have material worthy of the format.

Will it be cleaner, clearer, smoother, more dynamic and quieter then a 1/4" deuce? Hell yes!

Is it worth the added expense? That's between you and your wallet.

Cheers!

 

[Beck]

Before digital, 1/4" half-track was pretty common. 2 tracks on ¼” tape is a lot of real estate.

Hey, get your MSR-16 under control before somebody gets hurt.

 

[Seeker of Rock]

Ghost, I am getting myself into evil things, like a 'studio' extension onto my back garage (separate building from the house). Can't afford to have it built, and I drafted it out at 12'X14', but I've done framing, I done masonry, it is just that I will be a one-man builder on this. Garage needs new rafters, decking and tile anyway so that is already a wash. Might as well extend out from there another 12'. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Anyway, I figure I need a room, if I'm going to make a room presumably with me building along the course of many, many, many weekends, might as well at least start humoring myself as to what options are out there. I may not be able to afford them, but if I can I might as well look into the options.

Good Doctor, good to talk to you again too. Yeah, I know bad terminology on "a lot of you guys use 1/4")...as analog as I like my signals to remain (yeah I know, now, the HD24), the CDRW700 I have used for what little recording I have managed to get out in the last few years, the goal being that I want to get it on the internet and, unfortunately, that means transferring to digital. Anyhow, how screwy is this?.....Analog into Joemeek recording channels, analog into the Mackie board, to digital (convert here) back to analog via the 24.8 for mix, to mastering deck, then to CDRW for another conversion. Actually, now that I type the path out it isn't as "going back and forth" as I thought.

 

[Seeker of Rock]

Before digital, 1/4" half-track was pretty common. 2 tracks on ¼” tape is a lot of real estate.

Hey, get your MSR-16 under control before somebody gets hurt.

She is sitting on the floor, well cared for of course (I have too much money in her to treat otherwise ). Once I get some time, though it may be a long while, I am likely going to learn by experience with her, since I have a functional recorder to record with, at least in the interim. I have a soldering iron but I haven't touched it in probably 10+ years. Maybe I will be able to do what the expensive tech couldn't. Anyway, she's not going anywhere.

 

[Beck]

The least expensive 1/2" half-track is the fostex E-22. I see them very rarely on eBay and musicgoround.

 

[Seeker of Rock]

Ghost, I am getting myself into evil things, like a 'studio' extension onto my back garage (separate building from the house). Can't afford to have it built, and I drafted it out at 12'X14', but I've done framing, I done masonry, it is just that I will be a one-man builder on this. Garage needs new rafters, decking and tile anyway so that is already a wash. Might as well extend out from there another 12'. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Anyway, I figure I need a room, if I'm going to make a room presumably with me building along the course of many, many, many weekends, might as well at least start humoring myself as to what options are out there. I may not be able to afford them, but if I can I might as well look into the options.

Good Doctor, good to talk to you again too. Yeah, I know bad terminology on "a lot of you guys use 1/4")...as analog as I like my signals to remain (yeah I know, now, the HD24), the CDRW700 I have used for what little recording I have managed to get out in the last few years, the goal being that I want to get it on the internet and, unfortunately, that means transferring to digital. Anyhow, how screwy is this?.....Analog into Joemeek recording channels, analog into the Mackie board, to digital (convert here) back to analog via the 24.8 for mix, to mastering deck, then to CDRW for another conversion. Actually, now that I type the path out it isn't as "going back and forth" as I thought.

Out of curiosity, any ballpark range of what 1/2 track stereo 1/2" decks would go for? Haven't seen them on ebay and to be honest, haven't really given a lot of effort in other searches as to model numbers. It would be a long while before looking into 1/4" or 1/2", but the time will likely come for one or the other. 1/4" I pretty well know, 1/2", clueless.

Oh yeah, assuming with the track width and I believe the 1/4" run at 15 ips, noise reduction is not needed.

 

[Dr ZEE]

Will it be cleaner, clearer, smoother, more dynamic and quieter then a 1/4" deuce? Hell yes!
Is it worth the added expense? That's between you and your wallet.
Cheers!

NICE!
not to disagree or any of that sh*t, but ..heh heh, let me just add a shtick here... hope you don't mind ,
...so:

...That's between you and your wallet.

- Hell yes!

- Will it be cleaner, clearer, smoother, more dynamic and quieter then a 1/4" deuce? . - THAT's! between you and your sanity.

***********

...arghhhh... also, btw, the tape's track width is not the only contributing factor to the "sound" of the material being recorded and then reproduced on any specific machine, not to mention the fact that whatever comes from your machine is not the end yet. Not in our time.
So then maybe the more crucial issue would be: how to get your worthy material from analog master onto digital media while preserving the best possible way all the "microscopical diamonds shines and blinks", which only your golden ear can recognize and only your sensitive soul can appreciate.
Another words, what you may "gain" (if anything) during 'expansive trip' from 1/4" to 1" can be lost in the blink of an eye on the road from master-tape to CD... and if you want NOT to lose anything, then it will cost you extra again.... and then at the end, you'll have to hope that the CD you produce also will end up in the hi-end CD-Player/sound system and the listener will be the one with the golden ear who cares about all the "microscopical diamonds shines and blinks", and thus can recognize them in the swing of things and has a sensitive soul to appreciate it.
...I know, blah blah .... still, you know .

/respects

 

[Seeker of Rock]

NICE!
not to disagree or any of that sh*t, but ..heh heh, let me just add a shtick here... hope you don't mind ,
...so:

- Hell yes!

- Will it be cleaner, clearer, smoother, more dynamic and quieter then a 1/4" deuce? . - THAT's! between you and your sanity.

***********

...arghhhh... also, btw, the tape's track width is not the only contributing factor to the "sound" of the material being recorded and then reproduced on any specific machine, not to mention the fact that whatever comes from your machine is not the end yet. Not in our time.

/respects

I agree. Completely. In all honesty probably what I want eventually is a 1/4" mastering deck. I don't know, one step at a time. Time to build the room first and figure out what I am lacking if anything practical. Like everyone here, the songs are really what it is about, and just getting the truest representation of the song to yourself and maybe some listeners.

 

[Dr ZEE]

.. assuming with the track width and I believe the 1/4" run at 15 ips, noise reduction is not needed.

From what I hear - noise is 'noticable' when listening with nice headphones in a quiet room and only during the "moments" of the symphony when in the orchestra nobody picks a single note and nobody in the audience has common cold or allergy attack ...
and, from what I hear, absolute dead silence only good for a standard two second pause between tracks on CD. It may sound like a dumb joke, but I am actually serious here ..., it's a serious issue, sort of